THIRD ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART X. 595 



him the fine business blocks, imposing residences, orderly lawns, and well- 

 kept parks, but we carefully avoid "Angel and Paradise" alley. These 

 we know are a poor recommendation — they speak not of enterprise, prog- 

 ress, or an enlightened and desirable class of citizens. We measure a man 

 at first sight by what he appears to be; we select a horse that is without 

 blemish; we marry a woman who possesses a beauty that appeals to this 

 sense; and we prefer to locate in towns that have this much desired quali- 

 fication. 



By considering carefully this thought many of us can easily reason why 

 our city fails to attract a more desirable class of citizens; why it does not 

 progress as we would have it; and, indeed, the fact forces itself upon us 

 that we have sunk to our own level; that the inducements we can 

 hold out to the waiting world have attracted only those who have been as 

 neglectful and as careless of their door yards and streets as we, ourselves, 

 have been. You never heard of an up-to-date, progressive, and enterpris- 

 ing man locating in a run-down, unkempt, and untidy appearing city — he 

 goes elsewhere — while the inhabitants of this same city bewail the fact 

 that they are not making the progressive stride which their little rival 

 some few miles away is taking. 



This suggestion is not an exaggerated one. Our small cities are far 

 from being perfect, and I shall now endeavor to point out some few ways 

 in which our sense of beauty is often jarred — conditions which caused us 

 to speculate as to how they might be improved. To commence with, let 

 us briefly consider the home with its door yards, outbuildings, etc. Not 

 many of the properties of our small cities are all that we can desire, but 

 because a few are so we should not rest content, but on the other hand 

 ought to strive to make our municipality a "garden of Eden" from its bor- 

 der to its heart. We are all familiar with that portion of the town where 

 the houses are one-storied, the sidewalks are dangerous as an Alpine moun- 

 tain pass, the back door yards and alleys a garbage dumping ground, the 

 flower beds and shrubs a minus quantity, and the trees and fences suggest- 

 ing the recent passage of a mild cyclone. Here, generally, dwell a class 

 of citizens whose esthetic sensibilities have become so dull that it is a 

 Herculean task to sharpen them to the point where desired results can be 

 obtained. But we can hope for a bettering of such conditions, and it only 

 requires the initiation of the influential members of the city to work mir- 

 acles here. I make this statement advisedly and would not do so had we 

 not good examples of work accomplished along this line. I presume many 

 of you are acquainted with the work of the National Cash Register Co. at 

 Dayton, Ohio. Suffice to say that in this section of the city where this 

 manufacturing establishment is located that such a condition prevailed as 

 described above. It was the eyesore of the city and would probably be so 

 today had it not been for the work of this same manufacturing company. 

 The employes of the company were located here and were interested in 

 the improvement of their dwellings and yards by this company, who set 

 them a worthy example by beautifying the grounds and buildings of their 

 manufacturing plant. As a result South Park in Dayton is one of the most 

 beautiful sections of the city. It is not noted for its magnificent residences. 



